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U2 Eucharist a big success
Over 150 people joined together to celebrate Palm Sunday with a difference. An alternative communion service was held with the songs of U2 taking the place of more traditional hymns. The Discovery Gospel Choir sang songs including One and Yahweh, with 3Rocks’ own Sarah Byrne leading the serivce with I still havn’t found what I’m looking for.
Scott Evans, from Authenic youth, spoke on how we need to open our eyes and not only notice the world around us, but to actively respond to it.
‘I’ve never heard of such a popular rock band who can hardly go one song without mentioning Jesus’, was Gregs reply when asked about the service.
Being involved in comtemporary church for the last few years, it is exciting to see tradition and liturgy being combined with modern music to glorify God and where concern for those around us encourages us to reach out to them and meet them where they’re at. I was encouraged to see that there was so much interest from people outside of the church. One person stated ‘If this was on again tomorrow, I’d come back, and bring a friend.’
-Sarah-Jane
Check out the photos in the gallery.
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What the papers had to say:
irish indedpendent;
U2Charist lights up church as young and old worship
YOU’D be forgiven for thinking you had stumbled into a nightclub instead of a church at Ireland’s first U2Charist service in Dublin last night. The domed altar at St George and St Thomas’ Anglican church off O’Connell Street was lit up with bright pink, purple and blue floodlights as a fog of dry ice wafted up from behind.
Circling the altar were 20 members of the Discovery Gospel Choir belting out an unlikely hymn: U2’s ‘Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For’ accompanied by a rock band complete with electric guitar and keyboards.
The song’s lyrics were projected on two giant video screens above them as the faithful swayed back and forth, clapping their their hands to the rhythm. The pews were packed with young families, teenagers, twenty-somethings and a smattering of parishioners of all ages who crammed the church to see history in the making. It was the first time that the Church of Ireland hosted a liturgical service geared around the music and lyrics of Ireland’s most famous export.
For the next 90 minutes, interspersed between prayers, bible readings and sermons, the band and choir performed some of the band’s most popular hits with a gospel twist, including ‘40’ (based on Psalm 40) ‘Yaweh’ (God in Hebrew), ‘Windows in the Skies’ and ‘One’. The concept, which originated in the US several years ago, is to use the biblically-inspired lyrics and music of U2 as an alternative backdrop to a regular church service in order to entice more young adults and teenagers to the church.
“For me, the point is that instead of expecting teenagers to sit in a cold and boring church, this will give them something they can relate to,” said Greg Fromholz, Director of the Diocesan youth project 3Rock Youth.
-BBC
Soundtrack to searching; Around 150 people turned up to hear the word according to Bono. Dublin’s Sunday service lasted an hour and a half, with the church kitted out with concert-style lighting, video screens and dry ice. But US-born Mr Fromholz insisted the Irish version wasn’t as “fanatical” as similar services on the other side of the Atlantic. “I think at times they have pushed it a bit too far, using images of the band,” he said.
“We’re not doing that at all, we’re just using the songs as a soundtrack to searching.” “We’re reaching out to the youth,” said organiser Greg Fromholz. “There’s a deep Christian message in U2’s music.” U2’s music has often had a spiritual message. The song Until The End Of The World from the band’s Achtung Baby album, for example, describes a conversation between Jesus Christ and Judas Iscariot.
Fromholz said U2 were an obvious choice to help draw young followers back to Ireland’s church congregations. “They are always searching, always on the look out, always looking for something beyond themselves,” he said. “I think all of us are looking for that intimacy. They are writing songs that accentuate that and they’re very easy to sing along to.”
- UTV
Ireland is to see the first celebration of a Christian religious service based on the songs of rock band U2. Dubbed the U2charist, the event originated in the US and features songs by the group that strike a religious note. Now two Church of Ireland organisations in Dublin have banded together to arrange a Sort of Homecoming for the service, with its first Irish performance set for St George`s and St Thomas` Church on Sunday April 1. One of the organisers of the Palm Sunday service insisted, however, that it would be celebrating the Christian faith and not the Irish rockers. “This service isn`t about the worship of U2, it`s about the worship of Jesus Christ,” said Greg Fromholz, of the Christian group 3Rock Youth. “The U2charist is a great opportunity to reach out to the people in your congregation and larger community, especially young people.”
The U2charist service is a liturgy that uses the lyrics and music of U2 songs, many of which are inspired by the Christian beliefs of the band members. Organisers say the service was originally designed to call people worldwide to a deeper faith and engagement with God`s mission of global reconciliation, justice for the poor and oppressed, and the importance of caring for your neighbour. All were welcome to attend the U2charist which was led by rector of St George and St Thomas` Revd Katharine Poulton and featured the Discovery Gospel Choir. The Dublin event had a special emphasis on the church`s Millennium Development Goals, including issues such as HIV/Aids and global poverty.
- Evening Echo
U2 tonight helped followers find what they were looking for at the country’s first Christian service based on the band’s music. Teenagers and adults alike flocked to the small Anglican St George and St Thomas’s Church in Dublin’s city centre.
Organiser Greg Fromholz, who runs Christian youth group 3Rock in the Irish capital, said the church’s rector Rev Katharine Poulton first stumbled upon the idea. “She phoned me up and asked had I heard of the U2charist. I had and she said ’I want you to run it, can you help out?’ And whenever the church asks me to do youth work I always say ’yes’,” he said. After organising a choir he transformed the church, off the city’s main thoroughfare O’Connell Street, into a virtual concert venue with lighting, sound rigs and large video screens for the lyrics. The Gospel music-inspired I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For opened the hour and a half long celebration which had the young congregation singing in the aisles. Other blessed numbers which helped elevate the faithful included Peace on Earth, Windows in the Sky, Yahweh, 40, Hallelujah (Here She Comes) before a grand finale of One. US-born Fromholz insisted the Irish version, complete with dry ice machines and attended by up to 150 people, wasn’t as “fanatical” as similar services on the other side of the Atlantic. “I think at times they have pushed it a bit too far, using images of the band. We’re not doing that at all, we’re just using the songs as a soundtrack to searching,” he said. “You constantly expect teenagers just to come to church. They walk into a cold building to experience a service that has nothing to do with their culture. “What we are doing here tonight is saying: ’I’ll tell you what, we’re going to meet you half-way. We’re using music you understand, gospel style singing you enjoy, music projections that link with all your senses’. “We’re reaching out to the youth instead of expecting them to come to where we are.”
Fromholz said U2 was an obvious choice to help draw young followers back to the Republic’s historically dwindling congregation. “There’s a deep Christian message in U2’s music. Beyond that they are always searching. Always on the look out, always looking for something beyond themselves,” he said.
“I think all of us are looking for that intimacy. They are writing songs that accentuate that and they’re very easy to sing along to.”
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